October Card Show Haul - Vintage

Last weekends card show was also fairly productive with regards to my main collecting focus, vintage cards.

I found three 1978 TCMA The 60s cards I needed for my set, including the smiling Ernie Banks above.  This was a minor coup, as I rarely see these cards out in the wild. In fact, these were the first cards from that set that I have seen in nearly three years. I have seen an eBay seller that has a you-pick-them Buy it Now listing, but have never pulled the trigger because I've always had bigger fish to fry. 

Speaking of which:

I found the last three cards I needed for my 1972 set, including Carew. The 1972 Topps set, that I began working in earnest on December 19, 2015, is now complete.

Eleven more cards for my 1970 set, which leaves me 124 to go for completion.  This will still be a challenge, since 76 of the cards I need are in the semi-high and high number series.  Thankfully, the only major stars I still need are Clemente (#350), Banks (#630), and Kaline (#640).  Now that I have, generally, exhausted the local supply of cards, I expect that most of my progress from here on out to completion will come from eBay. So, if history is any tell, this will probably take at least another year to finish.

Twelve more 1968 cards, leaving me 113 to complete the set.  Unfortunately, with this set, I need most of the major stars, including the outrageously expensive Nolan Ryan rookie card. In fact, the *only* major stars I have for 1968 are Mickey Mantle, and the Aaron and Rose cards above. Even though I need less cards to finish 1968 than I do for 1970, I expect that this set will take closer to two years to finish because of the lack of star cards already in my collection.

Woo-hoo!  I completed a second set at the show. Granted, it was only the 33 set 1968 Topps Game, but I got the last card I needed for it.

 Nine more cards for my 1965 set, including Mr. Koufax.  I have a total of 105 cards so far for this 598 card set. Is that number high enough to say I am officially working it?

Lastly, I encountered a new seller at the show who had some of the oddest discount boxes I have ever seen.  They were, in many ways, your usual discount boxes in that they were full of modern parallels, short prints and no-name relic/autograph cards.  But, then you would find the occasional gem that really had no place in a discount box.  I found a Don Newcombe stadium pin in a dollar box which I sent off to Night Owl.  I also found this nice condition 1938 Churchman boxing card.  I don't have much interest in putting together the whole 50 card set, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add an 80 year old card to my collection.

So that is about it.  There won't be another local show until December and I have plenty of farm projects to keep me busy until then.  I may trawl through eBay to work on some of my sets, but I don't expect much activity in the next two months.

What I am listening to: Rock the Casbah by The Clash

August Local Show

Within a few days of my arrival back home from  my trip to the National show, I had an unexpected windfall. Well, it shouldn't be unexpected, inasmuch as it is an annual occurrence. So, it is more accurately categorized as an unremembered windfall.  But, it doesn't really matter, does it? Some money dropped in that I wasn't expecting.

After putting much of it in savings, since we are going to have a new loafing shed/storage building put up on the farm in the next couple weeks, I held a bit back to hit a local card show that took place the weekend after the National.  I made progress on a few of my sets and captured a little of the serendipity that was missing from my National visit.

I picked up 17 more of the remaining cards I need for my 1972 set, bringing me down to 9 cards left for completion.  The rookie card above has eluded me for quite a while. I've bid on it numerous times, but have never won as it always sell for more than I am willing to pay.

Since I am so close to completion on 1972, I decided to look back and figure out when I started it.  While I had cards prior to the date, my history shows that I really started the set in earnest at a card show in the middle of December of 2015. It is my intent to finish this set by the end of the year, so it will have taken approximately 3 years to complete.  When I first got back into collecting by building sets from the late 1970s, I was able to finish 2 sets a year.  However, once I worked my way back to 1973, it got harder since those sets were issued in series with the later series available in smaller quantities and at much higher prices. I don't think I'll finish a set in under a year again.

I found 4 needs for my 1970 set.  Still a long way to go on this one, with 139 cards (out of 720) still to go. And, of course, 109 of those are semi-high and high numbers.

Four more cards for 1968.  I need 125 more to complete the 598 card set.

Now for the moments of serendipity:

I have never owned a Red Heart dog food issue before. In fact, I don't ever recall seeing one in person.  That is now over with the addition of this 1954 Hank Sauer to my collection.  It is a small set at 33 cards, but has some serious names in the checklist. See for yourself. 

A 1949 Bowman. I really like the design of this set and I would consider building it if it wasn't for the Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige rookie cards that have a high book value of an eye-popping $3000 each.  The 1956 Mantle that I recently got only books at half that, and I was sweating some buying that.  I have a hard time imagining laying down the cash needed, even if I could afford it, to acquire even poor condition versions of those two cards. (Good Lord, I tortured that last sentence within an inch of it's life, didn't I?)

Anyways, that is about it for now.  I've got my fall vacation coming up in a few weeks and with the holidays coming soon behind, I expect my hobby activity will slow down. I'd like to finish both 1956 and 1972 before year end, but I don't have any plans beyond that.

What I am listening to: Aretha Franklin

October Card Show Haul

I wouldn't say the show was a complete bust.....

...but I am not sure mankind has invented a device to measure the distance between my card show experience and a complete bust.  You are looking at the sum total of my purchases.

And to top it off, the roads were so clogged up from game day traffic, I didn't even bother going to the LCS and look at that Schmidt rookie card. 

Added in Edit:  And, the final insult?  The Aaron card above I spent $12 on?  Already had it.

Every Dog Has His Day - Gene Alley

Gene Alley's career day came on September 8, 1967 when his 0.618 Win Percentage Added led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 win over the visiting St Louis Cardinals.  His game started off poorly, fouling out to the Cards first baseman Orlando Cepeda leading off the bottom of the second. He came to the plate again in the fourth and popped out, again to Cepeda.  Things got only marginally better in the bottom of the sixth, when he singled but was caught stealing to end the frame.

So, how did he get such a high WPA? In the eighth, with the Bucs behind 3-2, he doubled in Roberto Clemente with two outs to tie the game.  After regulation ended with the score knotted at 3, Alley led of the tenth with a triple off Ron Willis.  After St Louis intentionally walked both Bill Mazeroski and Jerry May, and struck out pinch hitter Al Luplow, Gene scored the winning run on a walk off single by Maury Wills.

While it is off lesser import, Alley had 4 putouts and 5 assists in the field, including initiating two double plays.


What I am listening to:  Copenhagen by Lucinda Williams




Yeah, it is melancholy but, holy hell, is it a beautiful song.  Lucinda Williams is an absolute gem.  The video is a bit odd, given that the song was about her hearing of the sudden death of her long time manager and friend while she was on tour in Copenhagen, but I think it works anyways.

July Card Show Haul - Set Additions

I am back from the card show up in OKC today. I mainly wanted to pick up some cards towards my 1973 Topps and 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets. Measured against those goals, it wasn't a particularly productive show for me.  I did manage to find 7 base cards from 1973.

I also managed to find 5 of the unnumbered checklists.

I picked up seven more 1968 Topps Game Cards. This leaves me only five to go to complete the 33 card set.

This 1970 Topps Giant Super Hank Aaron was only $5, so I picked it up on a whim.

This 1977 Cloth Sticker is more appropriately labeled trade bait. I seem to recall that some card blogger was interested in collecting these. So I dropped the princely sum of $1 on it.  Of course, I cannot remember for the life of me who it was that was collecting them.   Any one out there collect these or remember who does?

Anyways, since these big shows come around once every other month, I tend to save up so I am not running short of funds if I find something cool.  Since there was really only one vintage seller today, I could have pocketed what I hadn't spent on the above cards and used it to work on my 1973 set at a second LCS next weekend.

But, as you might guess, I didn't.  Coming up tomorrow: MOJO!

What I am listening to:  Nashville Blues by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

March Mini-Show $30 Haul

 Since I was up in the area buying feed, I decided to stop in at the March mini-show at Al's Sportscards in Edmond.  I was mainly going to check in on one of the dealers who I hadn't talked to in several months and had been having health problems.  He was there and was in good spirits, despite still fighting some health issues. However, as it turns out, I was also able to make some (small) headway on the sets I am working.

A 1968 Topps game card. At 33 cards, it is a pretty small subset.  Yaz here is my 20th card towards completion.

I also found 5 star cards for my 1973 set.  I also had an offer for a nice 73 Nolan Ryan that I passed on in order to preserve my money for the larger OKC show next weekend.  I have heard one of the premier vintage dealers, Roger Neufeldt of Sports Memories of Oklahoma, will be there, and he is my last remaining, non-Ebay chance to knock off the remainder of the cards I need to finish 1971.

Speaking of which....

I actually managed to find one card I needed for my 1971 set.  The Killer acquisition means that I only need 18 more cards to finish the set.   While I am not expecting to find all 18 next week, I am hoping to get most of them.  I have been working this set since August of 2011 and it is time to put it to rest.

February's Mini-Card Show Mini-Haul

I did end up going to the card show up at Al's Sportscards in Edmond. There was only 5 dealers there, which is only a slight decrease from the normal 6 to 7.  One of my main connections for vintage goodness, Bill from Wichita, wasn't there today. So, I only spent about an hour at the show, spending about $50 on 8 cards.  I was hoping to knock off some 1971s, but didn't find any. My backup plan for 1960s Fleer cards also failed. But, for the most part, I did stick close to my collecting wheelhouse.

I got two of the 1968 Topps game cards. I now have 19 of the 33 cards in that insert series.

There was also one guy there who had a box of vintage cards for $5 each. I pawed through for the best condition cards and got the 3 above. I probably overpaid for the Gilliam, but feel like I got a screaming deal on the Roberts. Pedro, is the 49th 1956 card in my collection. Coincidentally, the card number is also 49.  Woooooo!!!!! Spooky!!!!!!   He had another 6 1956 cards that were in decent shape except for some obvious water stains near the bottom. After some deliberation, I decided to put them back and reserve any leftover funds for the March OKC show. 

I also picked up a couple of 1973s. I have already started on 1973, after a fashion, with a big trade with Ted of the now mothballed Crinkly Wrappers last year. So, even though I have vowed to not start 73 in earnest until I finish 71, I did get these two since they were being sold for a great price considering their condition.

And now we come to my one big purchase, which set me back 20 bones.

Granted I am not working on 1972 at the moment, even nominally. But, I will probably get to it late this year or early in 2014, so I didn't wander that far in the weeds with this pickup. But, I really have a hard time leaving a playing-days Willie Mays behind.  I actually now 7 playing-days cards of the Say Hey Kid (1962, 1969, 1969 Deckle Edge, 1971, 1972, 1973 Topps, and 1963 Fleer.)

So, overall, I am happy with my short stay at the show. But, the day was to get better when I found a trade package in the mail. More on that tomorrow.

What I am listening to:  Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning by Willie Nelson.

December Card Show - Miscellaneous Pickups

With my goals satisfied quickly, I decided to see what else was out there that might catch my fancy.

A couple weeks ago, with the completion of the 1969 Deckle Edge insert set within sight, I picked up a few of the 1968 game card inserts.  Yesterday, with the Deckle set complete, I picked up around a dozen more of the '68 game cards for around 50 cents each.

This puts me at about half done with this small set.  Of course, I have all the big names to go (Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Mantle.)  So, I'll probably make finishing one of my 2013 goals.  I also spent some time pawing through a few discount boxes.

And managed to actually find one Obak card from my want list in a dollar box.  This is the T212 mini of Ryne Sandberg (as an Oklahoma City 89er!) from the 2009 set.

Can you believe this?  A 1962 card of a Hall of Famer for a dollar? It isn't in super shape, but it is in far better shape than I would expect for a dollar box find.

Finally, the first new addition to one of my two player collections in quite a while.  A 1947-1966 Exhibit card of Johnny Antonelli that set me back about $5.  There are actually two Antonelli Exhibit cards. This one, where he is with the Braves and another with him as a member of the Giants.

So,  I had managed to hit my three show goals and managed to make a little progress on a couple of other sets that weren't on my radar for the day.  Best of all, I still had some green left in my pocket.

I'm Pathetic

I am.  The first Saturday of every month is the mini-card show up at Al's Sports Cards in Edmond. I was on the fence about going.  My birthday was last month and I have a little mad money from that.  But, December is a rough month (as you might imagine.)  Obviously, it is the gift giving season. But, it is also time for me to make quarterly insurance policy payments.  On the flip side, we just refinanced our mortgage to take advantage of the low rates, so we don't actually have a payment due to January.  I was leaning against going, since there is the larger bi-monthly OKC show in 2 weeks and I expect Roger Nuefeldt from Sports Memories of Oklahoma to be there.  He is the last local dealer of quality vintage I need to visit with in order to get my 1971 set over and done with.

Then Bill, the investment banker/card wheeler dealer from Wichita, called me this morning to say he was on his way in to the show and had some interesting new acquistions.

You know where this is going, right?   Right.

My intent was to only buy something if it was needed for my 1971 set, my several 1960sFleer sets, or my 1969 Topps Deckle Edge set.  It didn't work out that way.  I only need 3 Deckles to finish the set (4 if you count 22B, the Joe Foy short print), but there was no one selling singles. One dealer (For the Collector out of Tulsa, who made a recent appearance over at Napkin Doon's place,) had a complete deckle edge set, including the Foy, but was only selling them as a complete set.  So, I had to pass, but did pick these 1968 Topps Game insert cards for a buck apiece.  It is another small, fun, and cheap set at 33 cards that I will put together once I finish the Deckles.  Bill had the Aaron and Mays game cards, but I decided to hold off on getting them.

I picked up 2 more cards for my 1963 Fleer set, leaving me only 9 to go to finish.  I am glad to get the Richardson, since Chris Potter Sports is having a autograph signing with him in February.  Speaking of 1963 Fleer and autographs, after my whining yesterday about my Mazeroski and Gibson card getting lost in the mail, the Post Office managed to find and delivery them to the autograph service at the end of the day yesterday. I called to see if they got them in time to include them in the signing, but the person I spoke to on the phone couldn't answer the question. So, I am back to hopeful that I'll get those two signed.  I'll probably get all OCD on Monday and call them to see.

My status beyond that is I have two other cards out for signing, one today and one on December 16.  I have identified 3 more future signings and 2 addresses for TTM requests.  One of my TTM targets will be Don Demeter, who lives right here in OKC and is the pastor of a Baptist church.  If I do my math right, I have 8 1963 Fleer cards autographed and in my binder and 9 more in the works in the future.  There is a number of them on EBay too for $15 or less each that I may have to seriously target with my Christmas money from my parents. (Am I the only one that finds it weird that a grown-ass man with a good job is getting Christmas loot from his parents?)

And here is where I weakened.

Bill had a huge stack of 1940 Play Ball cards that were neat to look at, but didn't really grab my fancy. Until I got to these two.  The Waner brothers were born not too far from here, in the town of Harrah, OK.  To come across pre-war vintage cards of two of the game's greatest, who also happen to be Oklahomans was too much for me to resist.  These are now the oldest cards in my collection, supplanting a 1948 Bowman Allie Reynolds (also an Oklahoman.)